Scènes de ménage (dans un centre commercial)

Like many viewers, I was underwhelmed by this film in 1991. Thirty-one years later, I'm pleasantly surprised how good it is. Maybe age has something to do with it, both mine and the film's. Bette Midler and Woody Allen turn in great performances. Suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the bright, quick-witted repartee.

In Annie Hall, Alvy Singer observes that the only cultural advantage of living in California is that you can make a left on a red light. Here. in the thick of it, Woody's character is a committed Los Angelean with designer suits, fast-talking business deals but still with that underlying angst. There's a lot to recommend this relatively stagey effort from Paul Mazursky - the screenplay, the leads and the unique setting - although Kevin Smith has done it better since in Mallrats. What is perhaps missing here is any new revelation or insight into the characters who remain pretty much two-dimensional throughout. It is alas predictable fare but still worth a look for a touch of Woody as he might have been if California had enticed him over.

Director Paul Mazursky is always at his best when satirizing trendy Southern California lifestyles, and he does so here from that most quintessential Southern California setting: the shopping mall, where Bette Midler and Woody Allen break up and reconcile over the afternoon of their 16th wedding anniversary. The windy script was obviously written with Allen in mind, but the New York comedian is just as clearly out of his element playing a nouveau-riche, pony-tailed attorney with a taste for sushi and frozen yogurt. The sheer novelty value of such unlikely miscasting is irresistible, especially with the typically neurotic Allen paired (for once) against a co-star as extroverted as Midler, more or less reprising her role from Mazursky's 'Down and Out in Beverly Hills' (1986). But the film never rises to the laugh-riot level expected from the talent involved: it's a claustrophobic, one-act, two-character comedy, no less thin and shallow than the LA culture it mocks, and often pointless except as a vehicle for its two bankable stars. Imagine the film with two unknown actors in the same roles, and it all but disappears off the screen.

Like a stale marriage, after about half an hour you might feel like retaking your vows with this one, because although it starts well enough, the fire soon dies down. The two leads are great, sparking off each other and generally giving all they've got to these two-dimensional characters. But there's only so many one-liners you can take before you realise that there isn't actually anything happening. It's an interesting idea, and worth a look, but with the credentials of those involved you'd expect to get more for your money.

Even though the movie is pretty much everything that Woody Allen is not, it's still somewhat enjoyable to see him paired with the amazing Bette Midler. The story is interesting to say the very least: it's their anniversary, and Nick (Allen) decides to share a secret. It so happens that they are located in a mall, and the drama is surrounded and contrasted by hundreds of neons, stores, billboards, colors, and excitement. In the midst of all this, a life shared for years is crumbling down, as Nick is not the only one with a secret. The movie, being interesting as it is, has its flaws. The dynamic between Deb (Midler) and Nick is sometimes unbearable as it shifts drastically from one side to another. They are both on two separate rollercoasters, and it's can be annoying. Perhaps the most charming feature is its never-ending symbolism. Every little thing can be interpreted as many different things in the movie, and I don't think the movie should be taken in as it is. There are many interesting aspects in the movie, and as always, Woody Allen delivers with his almost-there-over-the-top performance. All in all, it's probably not the easiest and not the best thing Allen has been a part of, but it's still worth it to see him yelling and talking about sex...because it always is.